Sound controller for telephone receivers



Dec. 1, 1925. 1,563,572 r M. R. HUTCHISON sozmn CONTROLLER FOR TELEPHONERECEIVERS Filed Jan. 22, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 1 I MI 7 A TTORNE Y Dec. 1,1925. 1,563,572

M.R.HUTCHEON SOUND CQNTROLLER FOR TELEPHONE RECEIVERS Filed Jan. 22,1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wail/ 1415154111111!!! ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 1,1925.

rtJN-E 'TIE l) S f T Es MILLEB REESE I-IUTCHISDN, OF"XVEST"RANGE, NEWJERSEY.

CONTROLLER FOB TELEPHONE RECEIVERS Application filedlTanuary 22, 1924/Serial No. 687,736.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, MLLER REEsE HUTGHI- Senna citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of West Orange, int the county of Essex 6 and"State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and-useful Improvementsin Sound GODt1'0ll6l'S'1ff01 Telephone Receivers,

of which the following isa specification.

Telephone receivers vary widely in the loudness of the "sound producedand also witlrrespect to the noisiness of the environment in which theyare usedand my present invention contemplates means for closing inthetransmitter-outlet and conducting the soundthrough a suitable conduit,thus providing mean whereby the above variations can be taken care of.

\Vhere the sounds are very faint, they may be conducted through tubesterminating in ear-pieces closely fitting into the ear. Similaradvantage exists where the sounds are not particularly faint but thesurroundings are very noisy; also where the received sounds are loud,and the surroundingsquiet,

near or even at a considerable distance from i the receiver: v

To meet any or allsuch conditions, I provide a'simple device readilyattachable to thesta-ndard telephone receiver. Preferably it isinthe:form ofa cover plate, firmly attachable so as to permit usewwiththe telephonereceiver lying'on its sideor hanging I uporstandingion'end;v Preferably the outer face ofthe device is finished offto form a plane stable base of 'sup 0rt.-'-,

vention may be unore fully understood from the followingdescription 1nconnection wlth the accompanying drawings, in which Fig; his a :faceviewof-the device with attached ear-tubes w 2 i j Fig. 2 is a section onthe line 2-2, Fig. 1; "Eig. 3'is a'sectionon the line;3i3, Fig. 1;Eigs1z4: and :5 are respectivelyface-view and'side elevation ofa'simpleiform of stamping that-maybe employed 'as indicated in,

the: preceding figures; 1

i Fig: 6 is a:face view corresponding to Fig; l but showing amodification;

' ..Figs."7 and8 are respectively sections 0 the lines 7-7 and 88,-Fig.;6;

" Fi 9 is a section like Fi 2 but showin O D 7 D ainoclification'. 1 ar, m

'In Flgsu l to 5 the device comprlses a coverember 1, preferably adiecasting,

H V 4 l j 5 v.

thereto.

diaphragm.

one face of which has an annular depression 2 of approximately the samedlameter .asthe, "lace annulus 3 of the telephone receiver, outside ofwhich depression is anannulai surface 4. At the center is aprojectingboss 5, formed with a passage 6 adapted to register with thesound outlet 7 of the telephone receiver. The passage 6 extends awayfrom the receiver far enough to clear the face thereof and then curvesinto the tubular portion 8 which is continued through a projection 9,extending beyond :the periphery of the cover piece 1. Preferably theback of the cover is contoured so that the-back wall 10 of passage 8appears in relief and there is an annular base portion 11 project-- inginto the same plane as 10, so thatthe cover may be laid on its back withthe receiver projecting upward at right angles Preferably the annulusllhas a molded depression 12,in which may be located the name of themaker, trade-name or any other desired legend, the letters, or fig-.ures being preferably molded in the metal. so that the sounds areaudible to bystanders a The boss 5 has-exteriorly thereof a sleeve 13,preferably of flexible-rubber, which projects into the sound outlet-14:of the telephone receiver, this affording a sealed coupling withtube 6.If desired, the tube 13 be provided with a bead 15 to assist insealingthe joint and also to prevent the tube from being :pushed into, contactwith the receiver In the form shown, the cover, 1, is secured to thereceiver byrmeans of; a sheet metal 7 stampingmolded as atQOtofit theportion The above :and other features of my in- 2 of the cover and at 21to fit the annulus 4.

/ The stampingiis centered by centralperforation 22, which fits aroundthe outside of; the

cover b screws en 'a in erforations 26.

i Around the edges-ofjhe stamping are integral forwardly projecting arms23, 23,w-terminating: in eyes 2 L, formedby curling the -;metalpreferably outward; These arms emvbltLGG the -telephone receiver, .asshown in :Fig. 2 and are clamped agamst the perlphery thereof bysprings, preferablya continuous l1QllX;25; The arms 23, have radialportions at their bases that contact withannulus 4,

therebyi increasingvspringiness and decreasing liability of permanentbends or breaks at thebaseof thearms; v7

The device even ;as above described may be applied to the receiver andthe receiver held in the hand of tlie operator in the usual way, so thatthe outlet 27 of passage 8 may be brought nearer to or farther away fromthe ear, according to conditions. Preferably, however, the projection 9is formed to receive an ordinary ear tube out-let such as is commonlyused on phonographs and may include a tube 28, communicating with ametal Y 29, communicating through its two branches with tubes 30, 30,terminating in ear-pieces 31, 31 and preferably provided with aninternal spring wire stiffener 32, which has a set tending to press theearpieces into place in the ears of the user.

The spring 25 is a desirable means of holding the arms 23 in clampingrelation to the receiver, but if desired these arms may be contoured asat 23 Fig. 9, to fit the outside of the telephone receiver, andre-curvedas at 24, to form wedge surfaces to assist in opening the spring fingerswhen the device is applied to the telephone receiver.

In the form shown in the Figs. (3, 7 and 8, I have provided means formore accurately centering and more positively securing the attachment tothe telephone receiver. In this form rigid guiding at three points iscombined with resilient clamping at three other points. The rigidguiding is afforded by the three integral forwardly projecting arms 40having the recesses ll formed on the outside thereof, and having theirinner faces 12 parallel with each other. These faces are exactlyconcentric with the central tubular boss 5 and they have sliding fitwith the outside of the receiver so that tube 5 is accurately centeredfor registry with the sound outlet of the receiver. C0- operating witheach of these fixed guides, and preferably opposite them, are the threemovable guides 50, 50, pivoted as at 51 in ra'dially projecting ears 52,52. These are clamping guides contoured as at 53 to fit the end of thetelephone receiver and they have peripheral recesses 54 corresponding tothe recesses 41 in the fixed guides. These six recesses all in the sameplane receive a resilient clamping rim which may be a spring 25, similarto that of Figs. 2 and 3.

The transmitter engaging face of the cover may have a facing of felt,rubber or other non-vibratory cushioning metal.

The diameters of the passages leading to the ear. may be predeterminedto suit the user. Passages of large cross-section may be used to deliversound energy intense enough for those who are very hard of hearing,while the average user may have the passages as small as desired, so asto damp the sound wave by friction. Adjustable damping, is possible byusing large tubes, the walls of which may be pinched by the user, to anydesired extent.

I claim:

1. An attachment for telephone receivers, conslstlng Of a fl t disc-likemember for closing the outlet of the receiver and having peripheralclamps for holding it on the receiver, a projecting tube centrally arranged to register with the sound outlet of the receiver, a rubbercoupling on said tube having a cylindrical portion projecting into andfitting said sound outlet.

2. An attachment for telephone receivers, consisting of a flat disc-likemember for closing the outlet of the receiver and having means forholding it on the receiver, a projecting tube centrally arranged toregister with the sound outlet of the receiver and connected to a radialpassage extending beyond the periphery of the disc, a rubber coupling onsaid tube having a cylindrical portion projecting into and fitting saidsound outlet and provided with an internal bead engaging the outersurface of the transmitter to limit the depth of such projection.

A device for supporting a telephone receiver on the sound outlet endcomprising an integral disc member having an opening in its inner faceto register with the receiver outlet and communicating through a radialpassage with the outer air, the outer face of the disc having a radialpassage molded as a radial pipe of minimum permissible thickness and amarginal rim of approximately the same thickness as the pipe coopcrating therewith to alford a plane surface of support.

4. A device adapted to serve as a stand for a telephone receiver,consisting of a disc the inner face of which covers the outlet end ofthe receiver and the outer face of which has a radial pipe formed as amolded projection thereon and communicating with an integral tubularboss projecting centrally from the inner face of the disc, said outerface having also distributed support pro j ections of approximately thesame thickness as the projection of the radial pipe.

5. A device adapted to serve as a stand for a telephone receiver,consisting of a disc the inner face of which covers the outlet end ofthe receiver and the outer face of which has a radial pipe formed as amolded projection thereon and coinn'iunicating with an integral tubularboss projecting centrally from the inner face of the disc.

6. An attachment for telephones comprising a disc member, having on itsinner face a circular depression the annular edge of which fits theannular molding on the end of the receiver to center the same, incombination with parallel clamping fingers fit ting the receiverperipherally and an elastic ring clamping the ends of fingers toward theaxis of the receiver.

7. An attachment for telephone comprising a disc member, having on itsinner face a circular depression the annular edge of which fits theannular molding on the end of the receiver to center the same, incombination with parallel clamping fingers fitting the receiverperipherally and an elastic ring clamping the ends of fingers toward theaxis of the receiver, portions of said ring 5 between the fingersengaging behind the flange of the receiving cover.

8. An ear tube and means for securing it to a telephone receiver, saidmeans comprising a disc m mber which fits against the out let end of thereceiver, in combination with 10 parallel clamping fingers on the discengaging member, fitting the receiver peripherally and an elastic ringclamping the ends of fingers toward the axis of the receiver.

, Signed at New York in the county of New 1 York and State of New Yorkthis 18th day of January, A. D. 1924.

MILLER REESE HUTCHISON.

